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Hillary Rodham Clinton worked the crowd with aplomb Thursday in a small room in the Capitol, exchanging hugs and handshakes, listening intently, cracking a joke now and then.

To the tourists thronging the entrance, readying their cameras for a glimpse of the fuchsia-clad Democratic presidential front-runner, the gathering inside looked like any random campaign stop. But the New York senator's conversation partners were in fact members of Congress, a class of übervoters whom presidential campaigns seek out for their heft back home.

Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) held dueling meetings last week on Capitol Hill to court these influential endorsers. Obama met with 31 members of the House on Wednesday, according to a House Democrat who helped organize the event. Clinton's meeting was exclusively with members of the centrist New Democrat Coalition and drew about the same number.

Clinton, though, leads the Democratic pack in congressional endorsements, according to a tally maintained by The Hill newspaper. She has 54 supporters to Obama's 22. Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards has 15.

Across the aisle, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) recently met with his Capitol Hill supporters to reassure them of his viability after poor fundraising and a shake-up of his campaign.

The meetings present a dilemma to presidential candidates. Do they offer a standard stump speech to these most sophisticated of voters, or do they give them an inside account of campaign strategy in line with their well-honed political acumen?

Clinton favored a variation on the first option, offering a nuanced discussion of policy goals with an occasional mention of strategy, attendees said. She highlighted four priorities of her campaign: affordable health care, energy independence, early childhood education and international diplomacy. Obama stuck to strategy, offering up figures showing how he could beat Clinton.

Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Pa.), who attended both the Clinton and Obama presentations, said Clinton was heavy on substance. "Her pitch was, 'I'm going to talk about issues and dazzle you with knowledge,'" Altmire said.

That approached worked with Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), who marveled at Clinton's grasp of policy. "She had everyone in the palm of her hand," he said.

But Clinton's emphasis on policy did not forgo a few folksy flourishes. As lawmakers entered the room late, she interrupted herself to greet them by name.

"Hi, Allyson!" she called to Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D), a sophomore member of Congress from Pennsylvania. "Hi, Patrick," she yelled a moment later to another Pennsylvanian, Rep. Patrick J. Murphy (D), who was still a teenager when the Clintons moved into the White House.

Obama's presentation focused on strategy and how he could prevail over Clinton. Hosting a breakfast at Democratic National Committee headquarters on Capitol Hill, Obama and his campaign staff noted that only 39 percent of his donors had contributed the primary maximum of $2,300, while 58 percent of Clinton's donors had -- meaning that Obama could return to many of the same contributors for more money.

The campaign outlined its "Early State Strategy," according to a handout distributed at the meeting, noting that the "result of the Iowa caucus deeply impacts future contests" and that he must "be prepared for a long battle."

Readers' Comments (4)

Going with Hillary is suicide for the Democratic party. More importantly, it's bad for America. We can't stomach more divisiveness, and who in their right mind thinks she can unite this country? We also cannot stomach more years of this weired Bush-Clinton dynasty; surely we can do better. In fact, we have better in Sen. Obama. He's the real deal. After watching the recent debate, we get a glimpse of just how much better he is.

He has the skills of doing nothing in the Senate except find the right bathroom. He accomplished that and more in the Illinois State Senate where he found the keys to the pork barrel as well as the Mensroom.

After 4 months of campaigning he now knows how to play Surrender Monkey on his Game Boy.

He has learned to act in front of focus groups to get the best deals of the day.

As Lord Biden said, he is clean and has no negatives since he hasn't done anything. Thats what counts -

A President that has no skills, attributes and/or negatives is just what we need when Dearbornistan erupts.

Maybe he can get Cindy Sheehan to reconsider beating out Nancy Pelosi in exchange for a Vice President slot.

It's funny...they said that Lincoln had too little experience too before becoming one of the greatest presidents...he was only a one term representative in the House. Then there's JFK...he was young and relatively inexperienced also. Experience only counts if it is experience being correct...experience using good judgement. What did Hillary's supposed experience gain us when she voted for the Iraq war? She couldn't even bother to read the entire National Intelligence Estimate, she was so experienced. Of course, if she had the type of true experience that brings wisdom, she would have voted the other way. With Obama we will have a renaissance in this country; a resurgence of good feeling, of prosperity, of diplomacy that brings results. The day that Obama is elected president is the day the world will once again take America seriously, and will once again value and trust America.